Birthday Wishes
by hxchick
Summary: How does Katie celebrate her birthday with Dave, Erin and her sisters? This is a one-shot from the 'Family Ties' universe. Written for Marlene for her birthday!


_Birthday Wishes_

**~This story was written for Marlene as a (belated) birthday gift...I hope you like it! **

**~This story takes place in the 'Family Ties' Universe and it picks up right where that story left off. It's not necessary to have read that story, but this one may make more sense if you have.**

**~Thanks to Ren Kayashima for her help with info about San Francisco!**

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David Rossi awoke from a sound sleep to the sounds of shrieks and various thumps from the hotel room next to him. As he bolted out of bed, his first thought was that he was on a case and somehow the unsub had found him and his team. He was reaching for his service weapon when he realized, no, he wasn't on a case and it wasn't a team mate sleeping next door; it was his daughter and Erin Strauss' three daughters. He sat down on the bed and rubbed his face as the previous week came back to him.

Erin had decided to take the girls on a cross-country road trip and Dave, being an old fashioned, protective kind of guy, hadn't wanted her going alone, so he had come along...both as protection and as another parent for the kids. After many stops along the way, they had finally made it to San Francisco the night before and, to his horror, he realized it was his turn to take the adjoining room. During the trip, they had stayed at numerous hotels and, when they could, they all shared a suite, but many times the hotels didn't have them available and in that case they got three rooms next to each other; one for Dave, one for Erin and one for the girls. Their one stipulation was that two of the rooms had to be connected by an adjoining door and they put the girls in the middle room. He and Erin had taken turns sleeping in the adjoining room and last night when they had pulled up to their luxurious hotel, it had been Dave's turn and he'd been too tired to argue about it. Now that he was somewhat rested, he realized he would be sharing his bathroom and much of his room with four girls for the next five days.

He heard more loud noises coming from the kid's room and he decided to check it out before the hotel management did. Since the youngest girl, Allie, sometimes wandered into the adjoining room during the night, Dave was already dressed in flannel pants and a t-shirt, so he quickly crossed his room and knocked on the adjoining door. He heard giggling and then two of them called out "Come in!"

He walked into the room and found all four girls piled onto Katie's bed. "It's not even eight o'clock yet," he said, "Can you keep it down to a dull roar?"

"But Dave!" Allie protested, "It's Katie's birthday!"

He smiled at the little girl, "I know it is and now, thanks to the four of you, the rest of the hotel knows it as well."

"Sorry Dave," the middle girl, Clara, said softly.

"It's okay, I know you're excited and I know everyone is glad to finally be out of the SUV, we just have to be a little quieter so the other guests can sleep a little longer." Once Clara was reassured, he moved to his daughter and kissed her on the forehead. "Happy birthday Katie Belle," he said.

"Thanks dad," she replied, giving him a hug.

"So what are we doing today?" Ellen, the oldest of the girls, asked excitedly. While she had been hesitant to accept Katie as a sister at first, the two of them had grown closer and she was excited to help her celebrate her birthday.

"I'm not sure," Dave replied, sitting on the edge of the other bed, "Let's wait until your mom gets up and we can make plans then."

"Well it's a good thing I'm already awake," Erin said as she entered the room. Both she and Dave had insisted that the parent who didn't have the adjoining room would have a key card to the girl's room.

"Mommy!" Allie yelled, running towards her as if she hadn't seen her in years. Erin caught the little girl, scooped her into her arms and walked with her towards her middle daughter.

"Happy birthday Katie," she said gently as she kissed the top of her head, much like her father had done just a minute prior.

"Thanks mom," she said. It was still weird for her to call Erin 'mom' but she was getting used to it. Erin, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of hearing her newest daughter call her 'mom' instead of 'Erin' and the happiness was evident on her face.

"So what do you want today, Katie?" Ellen asked, anxious to get the day started.

"Don't forget, we have spa appointments booked for this morning," Erin reminded them. "You're invited too David; they have a father/daughter pedicure I thought you would like." Her eyes twinkled with amusement and the four girls could barely keep straight faces.

"Has all the driving gotten to you, Erin?" He asked in disbelief. "In what universe would I _ever _get a pedicure?"

"Come on Dave, it'll be fun!" Clara said with a grin. She knew the man would never accompany them to the spa, but she had to give him a little grief.

"Yeah dad, don't you want to be with me on my birthday?" Katie asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry Katie, but you're on your own for all of the girly spa stuff. What time are the appointments?" He asked Erin.

"Ten-thirty and they said we should done by twelve-thirty, so we'll have the entire afternoon and evening free to do whatever Katie wants," she told all of them.

"It's supposed to be a gorgeous day out, so I thought maybe we could wander around Fisherman's Wharf this afternoon?" Katie suggested and was relieved when she saw everyone nod their heads in agreement. Their hotel was right on the wharf and, after a week in the SUV, staying out of it for the day sounded good to everyone. "And then for dinner, I was hoping we could go to the Benihana's in Japan Town. I heard it's an expo restaurant and they do a TON of fancy cooking and I really want to try their sushi."

"Ooooh, sounds yummy!" Allie exclaimed and the girls all agreed with her.

"Dad, is that okay with you?" Katie asked and Dave shrugged and nodded.

"Sounds fine," he said and then looked at his watch, "But you and I have to get going if we want to continue our birthday tradition."

"And everyone else has to get showered and changed for breakfast," Erin said standing up.

"Dibs on the shower!" Ellen called as she jumped off of the bed and made a mad dash for bathroom.

"But I have to pee!" Allie cried, doing a little dance. She bobbed around for another few seconds and then ran into Dave's hotel room. A second later, the rest of them heard the bathroom door slam shut.

"I'm next, Allie!" Clara yelled as she got off of the bed and also ran into Dave's room.

"I get it after Clara!" Katie joined in. "I have to jump in the shower!"

Dave sighed, "I'll give you a $1,000 to trade rooms with me," he said to Erin.

She just laughed. "Not on your life."

"I figured as much," he huffed, resigned to the fact that his room would not be his own for the next five days. He saw a streak of purple fly past as Katie jumped out of bed and beelined it for his room. "Wait!"

Katie stopped and turned around, "What?"

"Isn't that my jersey?" He asked unnecessarily. He had a Baltimore Ravens jersey that was two sizes too big for _him_ and, for some reason, Katie loved the thing just as much as he did and they'd fought many times as to whose it really was. The hell of it was, Katie didn't even like football, she just liked how comfortable the shirt was.

"Um, no?" She said sheepishly and then looked at the ground when her dad nailed her with his patented stare...she could see why criminals didn't stand a chance with him. "Okay, it's yours but I needed something to sleep in; I accidentally forgot my pj's at the hotel in Denver."

"Accidentally, huh?" He said skeptically. "Well we'll make sure to get you some new pajamas as soon as possible."

"Fine," Katie said sadly as she continued into the other room.

"It's not going to be boring here, is it?" He asked Erin.

"No, it sure won't be."

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Thirty minutes later, Katie and Dave sat down at the local IHOP and waited for their server. This had been a birthday tradition between the two of them since Katie was three years old. Even when he'd missed her birthdays due to cases, no matter where the team was, he would always go to the local IHOP at the same time as she went to the one in DC and they would eat breakfast together via cell phone.

After they put in their orders, cinna-stack for Dave and rooty tooty fresh n'fruity for Katie, simply because she liked the sound of it, they sat in silence for a minute.

"I missed doing this last year," Katie said. "Grandpa and I went to a restaurant in Rome for breakfast, but it wasn't the same."

"I missed it too; in fact, I went to an IHOP on your birthday just so it would seem like you weren't so far away," Dave admitted.

"Awww, really?" Her dad nodded. "That's so sweet," Katie said with a small smile on her face.

"What can I tell you Belle? I'm known world-wide for my sweetness and kindness." He grinned when his daughter didn't even try to hold back her snort of laughter. "I have something for you," he said as he reached into his pocket.

"I thought we were doing gifts after dinner?"

"I know, but I wanted to give you this before everything gets nuts today," he said as he slid a small, rectangular box across the table to her.

She removed the bow, opened the box and gasped at what was inside of it. It was a gold ring with a pearl in the center of it. The pearl was flanked by two tiny rubies and it was gorgeous.

"Is this...is this mom's ring?" She asked as she held it up to look at it.

Dave nodded, "This was the first piece of jewelry I ever gave your mother and she wore it almost every day."

"I know, I remember seeing it on her hand."

"She always knew she would pass it down to you someday and I was going to wait until your sixteenth birthday to give it to you, but with all that's happened over the last year, I thought you might want it now."

"Thanks dad," she said softly as she slid the ring onto her finger. "It fits!"

"I know," Dave told her. "I got your ring size from Erin."

As Katie stared at the ring on her hand, her smile faded. "Do you think mom would be okay with all of this?" She asked as she bit her lower lip. "I mean, I'm calling another woman 'mom,' and-"

"Your mom would be _fine _with this, Katie Belle," Dave said firmly. "Your mother wanted you to have a good and happy life and you have exactly that. I think your mother is looking down on you and smiling."

"Yeah?" She asked as she dabbed at the corner of her eyes with a napkin.

"Definitely," he told her as their food came. After that, the talk turned to lighter subjects and they left the restaurant feeling happy and full.

xxxxxxxxxx

The day went by quickly for both families and, thankfully, it went off without a hitch. After breakfast, Katie met up with her sisters and mother for a morning of pampering. After their pedicures and facials they joined Dave outside and had a light lunch. Then, they hit the wharf and didn't stop until later that night.

First they visited the Musee Mechanique, which had a mixture of turn of the century, mechanized games and arcade games from the 1980's. They all had fun playing the various games and, since most of them were only a quarter, they were able to try just about all of them. The best time came when they all crammed into a tiny photo booth for a picture. Dave thought he was going to die when Allie jumped on his lap and landed on a very sensitive part of his anatomy, while Erin thought they were going to have to call for the Jaws of Life to get everyone out of it. In the end, they got a couple of great family pictures and they all agreed it had been worth it.

Once everyone was finished with the various games, they walked up the wharf and watched the bakers make the famous sourdough bread at Boudin Bakery. The smells were mouthwatering and, even though they had eaten both breakfast and lunch earlier in the day, they all got some baked goods and ate them while they wandered around. After the bakery, they went to one of the piers that were near the sea lions and the girls all oohed and ahhhed over them while Dave and Erin snapped picture after picture. Once they finally got tired of the sea lions, they looked around at some of the souvenir shops before returning to the hotel. All of them agreed to go back to the wharf before leaving San Francisco.

They returned to the hotel, changed clothes and the girls all re-did their hair before piling into the SUV to head to Japan Town. Once there, they entered the largest Benihana's restaurant that any of them had ever been in. They had all eaten at the chain before, in some form or another, but the San Francisco restaurant dwarfed all of the others. First of all, the eating space itself was huge and second, they were much more demonstrative in their cooking but they left them alone once the food was served and, as Katie had hoped, the fresh sushi was to die for.

After dinner they decided to go back to the hotel, as everyone was tired and Katie still had presents to open. Once they got to the girl's room, Erin opened the door and let Katie go in first and the teen got a wonderful surprise.

"It's gorgeous," she breathed as she stared at the most beautiful birthday cake she had ever seen. "It looks like it came from one of those TV shows." The frosting was a pale yellow with white borders and there were pastel icing tulips scattered around the surface of the cake.

"It's marble cake too!" Allie exclaimed as they all entered the room. "'Cause it's your favorite!"

"Thanks! Really, I wasn't expecting a cake."

Everyone was surprised when Erin snorted indelicately. "What kind of birthday would it be if we didn't end the night by stuffing ourselves with a sugar laden dessert? Besides, you still have to open your presents and you can't do that without cake."

"Speaking of which," Ellen said as she reached into her suitcase and pulled out a large card. "Happy birthday!"

Katie took the card from her and watched as her parents ducked into her dad's room and came back with numerous gift wrapped boxes. They set them down in front of her and, after they sang happy to her and she blew out the candles, Dave began cutting the cake.

"This is so nice, I love it," she said as she opened a few boxes that contained clothes she, her sisters and her mom had seen at the mall a few weeks prior to the trip. They also bought her a necklace and some earrings for her somewhat newly pierced ears. Then, as everyone ate the cake, Katie picked up a small box and opened it. "Oh my GOD, is this an iPod?" She yelled before remembering they were in a hotel room. "This is AWESOME!" Along with the gadget, there was a $50 iTunes gift card so Katie could load up on music.

Dave shrugged, "I know your old Mp3 player was ruined when everything happened this spring, so I thought you could use a new one." No one really referred to the kidnapping of Katie and Erin directly; instead they talked about 'what happened in the spring.'

"Thanks dad!" She exclaimed as she threw her arms around him. He hugged her back for a moment and then let her go.

"You still have one gift left to open and I think Allie is going to jump out of her skin if you don't do it soon."

Erin, who had been carefully watching her daughter's sugar intake, nodded, "And then it's time for certain girls to go to bed," she said, eyeing her two youngest daughters.

Katie picked up the card Allie had handed her, opened it and just stared at it for a moment. "Really?" She whispered, looking first at her mom, then at her sisters and finally at her dad.

The card held a gift certificate for a make-over at one of the local day spas in DC and there was also a gift card in there for a basic beauty set, which included numerous cosmetics that her father had black listed until she turned sixteen.

"We talked to your dad and convinced him to let you start wearing a little bit of makeup," Ellen told her as Erin nodded behind her; up to that point, Dave had only allowed her to wear clear lip gloss, so the gift was a pretty bit deal.

"Just don't go overboard," Dave grumbled. "I think you're beautiful just the way you are; none of you need that stuff."

"Thank you SO much!" Katie exclaimed as she hugged her sisters. "Will you go with me to get it?" She asked Ellen.

The teen nodded, "Mom and I will both go because we want to make sure they do your makeover right." That made Dave feel marginally better since both Ellen and Erin wore their makeup tastefully, but he still wasn't ready for his little girl to be so grown up although he realized he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

After that, the small party wound down and everyone decided to go get ready for bed early. Dave helped Ellen and Katie clean up and put the cake away, while Clara showered and Erin gave Allie a bath in her bathroom. After that, the parents said their goodnights and everyone settled down.

In the girl's room, Ellen put on a Disney movie and Clara and Allie, who were both crashing after their sugar highs, promptly fell asleep. Ellen used that time to call her boyfriend back home and Katie left the room to give her some privacy. Her first thought was to go to her dad's room to see what he was watching, but she decided to knock on her mother's door instead.

"Katie, is everything all right?" Erin asked as she opened her door.

The girl nodded and stepped into the room as her mother held the door open for her. "I just wanted to thank you for all of the cool stuff today, I had a lot of fun."

"I'm glad Katie, and I had fun celebrating with you."

"It's kinda weird, you know? I mean I've never really had a big family to do this kind of thing with, but it was cool to celebrate with you, Ellen, Allie and Clara. I'm, um, really glad you didn't let me walk away from the family when I wanted to...I really love all of you."

"And we love you too, honey," Erin said as she pulled her into a hug. She kept one arm around her daughter while she dabbed at her eyes with her other hand. They stayed like that for a minute until the teen finally pulled away.

"I'll let you go to sleep," she said, taking a step towards the door.

"Actually, _While You Were Sleeping _just came on; do you want to stay and watch it with me?" Erin was already in her pajamas and the bed was calling to her, but she also wanted to spend time with her daughter.

Katie smiled, "I _love _that movie!"

They both got into the large king sized bed and less than twenty minutes later, Katie drifted off into slumber with a smile on her face.

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**_A/N 2: And now for some shameful self-promoting...I've been nominated for the _****Profiler's Choice Criminal Minds Awards **in numerous categories! Pease check out the final ballot at http : / / forum. fanfiction. net /topic /74868 /51253709 /1 / (remove the spaces) and be sure to vote by November 30, 2011.


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